--- type: exposition title: Klimt and Antiquity language: en url: "https://www.belvedere.at/en/klimt-and-antiquity-0" --- # Klimt and Antiquity ## Erotic Encounters ![Attic, red figured](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/header_cropped_1920x480_fp/public/jart-images/_492360588104.jpg.webp?itok=ob2iHHmk) **Duration:** 23 June 2017 - 8 October 2017 This exhibition explores the fascinating dialogue between Gustav Klimt’s work and classical art. A selection of examples from the artist’s oeuvre illustrates a fundamental shift in his understanding of antiquity. Whereas his early work, influenced by Historicism, reveals an interest in the details of classical art, after 1900 he translated the spirit of antiquity into his own formal language. The exhibition illustrates this development through juxtaposing Klimt’s work with classical vase painting and casts of sculptures that inspired the artist. Further highlights are Klimt’s illustrations for a new edition of Dialogues of the Courtesans by Lucian (c. 120–185 A.D.). Published in 1907, this erotic compilation represents a perfect pairing of Klimt’s risqué drawings with Josef Hoffmann’s Wiener Werkstätte design to create one of European Jugendstil’s most beautiful books. Select examples of Attic red-figure vase paintings offer a glimpse of the world in which the classical author Lucian set his Dialogues of the Courtesans. Although separated by more than two millennia, the interplay between classical vase painting and Klimt’s linear art reveals surprising correlations, unveiling new perspectives on how the artist appreciated antiquity. The exhibition is a cooperation with the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Curator: Dr. Tobias G. Natter \#KlimtAntik Combi Ticket - Klimt Ticket 2During the Exhibition we offer a special **Combiticket Klimt Ticket 2**. The Klimt Ticket 2 includes the entrance to the Lower Belvedere (incl. the exhibition *Klimt and Antiquity*) and the Kunsthistorische Museum (incl. the Klimt works in the hallway and the collection of antiquities). Available at the Belvedere Ticket counter and Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. **Klimt Combi Ticket 2: € 23** ## Impressions - ![Klimt und die Antike — Gustav Klimt, Reinzeichnung zum Plakat der 1. Ausstellung der Secession (Detail), 1898 — © Wien Museum](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_492360593941.jpg.webp?itok=t8enc8he) - ![Klimt und die Antike — Amphora of the Phrynos Painter, around 550/540 B.C. — © Antikensammlung Basel and Sammlung Ludwig](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_468272301757.jpg.webp?itok=MJ7WdUsj) - ![Klimt und die Antike — Gustav Klimt, Poetry (Detail of the Beethovenfries), 1901/02 — Belvedere, Vienna, © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_492360588931.jpg.webp?itok=-TnvyiqZ) - ![Attic, red figured — Tray of the Tarquinia Painter, around 470-460 B.C. — Antikenmuseum Basel and Sammlung Ludwig, © Antikenmuseum Basel and Sammlung Ludwig](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_492360588104_0.jpg.webp?itok=aOYR609P) - ![Reproduced in: Die Hetärengespräche des Lukian — Gustav Klimt, Sitzender weiblicher Halbakt, 1904 — Leopold Museum, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_492360588101.jpg.webp?itok=TWgAx6t4) - ![Klimt und die Antike — Gustav Klimt, Girlfriends (Water Serpents I), 1905/06, with last revisions in 1907 — Belvedere, Vienna, © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_492360588141.jpg.webp?itok=ScxNR4eP) - ![Klimt und die Antike — Die Hetärengespräche des Lukian, Edition A, 1907 — Privatbesitz © Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_492360593948.jpg.webp?itok=eiPHKR_Y) - ![Attic, red figured — Kalathos of the Brygos painter, around 470 B.C. — State Collections of Antiquities and Glyptothek Munich, © State Collections of Antiquities and Glyptothek Munich/Renate Kühling](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_492360588108.jpg.webp?itok=ETVXdHhA) - ![Klimt und die Antike — Gustav Klimt, Portrait of Josef Pembaur the Elder., 1890 — Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck, © Tiroler Landesmuseen](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_492360588142.jpg.webp?itok=xCJFCY6Y) - ![Middle Imperial Era — Musensarkophag, 180–200 A.C. — Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Collection of Antiquities, © KHM-Museumsverband](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_492360588106.jpg.webp?itok=ueGDbHaQ) - ![Klimt und die Antike — Vorzeichnung für Allegorie der Skulptur, 1889 — Albertina, Wien © Albertina, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_492360593942.jpg.webp?itok=h3RV6gY7) - ![Klimt und die Antike — Exhibition view „Klimt and Antiquity. Erotic Encounters“ — Photo: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_495246651418.jpg.webp?itok=hxkJ2J6b) - ![Klimt und die Antike — Exhibition view "Klimt and Antiquity. Erotic Encounters" — Photo: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_495246651417.jpg.webp?itok=C8AsDHjQ) - ![Klimt und die Antike — Exhibition view "Klimt and Antiquity. Erotic Encounters" — Photo: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_495246651416.jpg.webp?itok=dUkwgxEh) - ![Klimt und die Antike — Exhibition view "Klimt and Antiquity. Erotic Encounters" — Photo: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_495246651414.jpg.webp?itok=f0WbmusR) - ![Klimt und die Antike — Gustav Klimt, Die Poesie (Detail Beethovenfries), 1901/02 — © Belvedere Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_495246647634.jpg.webp?itok=V4i9KZ0u) - ![Klimt und die Antike — Exhibition view "Klimt and Antiquity. Erotic Encounters" — Photo: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_495246652697.jpg.webp?itok=pLVdSW4C) - ![Klimt und die Antike — Exhibition view "Klimt and Antiquity. Erotic Encounters" — Photo: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_495246652696.jpg.webp?itok=EZeQUFpw)